Heat engine



Oct. 17, 1939. w. .1. oLEARY 2,176,272

HEAT ENGINE Original Filed 001)?. 10, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet'l Oct. 17,l939. w- J. o'LEARY HEAT ENGINE Originl Filed Oct. l0, 1934 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 17, 1939. w. .-1. oLEARY HEAT ENGINE Original FiledOct. 10, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 17, 1939 PATENT OFFICE HEATENGINE William J. OLeary, Dayton, Ohio Application October 10, 1934,Serial No. 747,728 Renewed February 21, 1939 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to prime movers and more especially toheat engines.

The invention relates to constructions which improve engines of thistype both in operation and in efficiency.

An object of this invention is to provide an atmospheric engineoperating in part in response to atmospheric pressure applied to theopen end of the piston.

Another object Vof this invention is to provide an engine that has aquick stroke in one direction and a slow stroke in the other.

Another object of this invention is to provide a valve mechanism thatopens slowly and snaps into closed position.

Another object of this inventionis to provide an engine having a quickstroke in one direction and a slow stroke in the other direction, thatis provided with a valve mechanism having a slow stroke in one directionand a quick stroke in the other, said valve mechanism being timed tooperate during one of the strokes of the piston.

With the above primary and other incidental objects in View, as willmore fully appear in the specification, the invention consists of thefeatures of construction, the parts and combinations thereof, and themode of operation, or their equivalents, as hereinafter described andset forth in the claims. l

In the drawings, Fig. l is an elevational view of the engine on the sideof the valve with the flame director removed, and the fuel chamber insection. Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the opposite side of theAengine with part of the cylvinder in section. Figs. 3, 3a., 3b and 3cdisclose a series of diagrammatic views illustrating various relativepositions of the valve and piston. Fig. 4 is a detailed viewillustrating the flame director in position. Fig. 5 is an arrangement ofcurves illustrating the relation between the slide valve travel andpiston travel.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the piston in itsrelation to the crank connections. Fig. 'l is a sectional view taken onthe line l-'I in Fig. l of the slide valve which acts as a combinedintake and exhaust valve.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughoutthe several views.

Referring to the drawings and more especially to Figs. l and 2, themajor portion of the engine comprises a frame casting I, with which thecylinder block 2 and the fuel chamber 4 is an integral part. The forwardportion is provided with pedestals 5 and 6 which carry the main shaft 1,and the pedestal 6 on the crank side is strengthened by a web 8 whichconnects with a cylinder block 2. The cylinder 9 is bored out of thecylinder block 2 and is adapted to receive the piston I which isprovided with a boss II that is connected with a pitman I2, which isattached to the crank disc I4 on the main shaft l. A relatively heavyfly wheel I is mounted on the main shaft l between the pedestals 5 and6. The slide bar I6 is bifurcated at I'I at its forward end to slideover and be guided by the main shaft 'I between the hub of the fly wheelI5 and the pedestal 6. The opposite end of this slide bar ls providedwith a slot I8 to slide over the stud screw I9 and carries a springwhich is perforated to form an opening through which the projection 2lon the slide valve 22 extends in order that the spring may hold theslide valve 22 aga-inst the slide face 24 through which the intakeopening 25 leads into the cylinder 9. As shown in Fig. 7, the valve 22is a D valve and it acts both as an intake valve and as an exhaustvalve. When this valve is in its extreme right hand position (viewingthe engine as in Fig. 1) it closes port 25 both to the atmosphere and tothe fiame. As the valve begins to move to the left, it first connectsport 25 to exhaust passage 23 and then it opens the port to the flame.In this way, any pressure in the cylinder is exhausted directly to theatmosphere without blowing the ame away from the intake port 25.

The cylinder block 2 is provided at its upper portion with a water pan26 adapted to contain water so that the temperature of the cylinder maybe maintained within predetermined limits. An automatic pressureoperated exhaust valve is provided adjacent the back cylinder wall andcomprises an opening 21 leading into the cylinder, a valve seat chamber28, a closure plug A6, having a threaded portion 29a. The valve isclosed by a spherical member o-r ball 30. It is important that thisvalve member 30 shall be of a weight which will vibrate between the endof the valve closure and the valve seat at a rate which approximates thecycles of movement of the piston at the normal speed of the engine. Theperiod may be varied by adjusting the distance between the valve seatand the valve cloe sure. which adjustment may be effected by rotatingmember 46. If the valve member is heavy, it tends to cause the engine torun irregularly or may even stop. The same is true if the valve memberis too light. I find that a ball of aluminum is best adapted for thiswork. It will be remembered that the slide valve 22 acts as an exhaustvalve and hence this ball valve is in some respects an auxiliary exhaustvalve.

The forward end of the cylinder block is also provided with a receptacle3| which may be filled with waste 32 so that oil on the waste will dripthrough the opening 34 to properly lubricate the cylinder Walls and thepiston. Preferably, this oil receptacle is closed by a closure plug 29.

The forward end of the slide barv l5 carries an anti-friction roll 35which operates in a cam 39s, preferably formed on the fly wheel l5. Themajor portion 3l of the cam 3B is circular and the minor portion 38 ofthe cam 36 is in the form of a chord subtending an are of substantially60 and terminating in an inner arc 31a connected to the major arc 31 bya radial portion 3Q. A spring 45 causes the valve 22 to snap into closedposition when the roller 35 is aligned with the radial portion 39. l

The frame l also carries as an integral portion a fuel chamber l fromwhich a lsuitable burner head it@ is adapted to direct a llame upwardlyadjacent the intake opening 25. This llame is directed toward the intakeopening by a flame director l2 (see Fig. 4) so that as the engine isrunning in the direction ofgthe arrow A, Fig. l, the iiame is suckedinto the intake opening through the early partv of the working cycle.The burner head is set in a tube 43 which extends into the fuel chamber4 and prevents spilling the fuel when the engine is inverted or tippedover. f

By referring to Figs. 2 and 6 it will be observed that a horizontal linethrough the axis of the main shaft l is considerably above a horizontalline comprising the axis of the bore of the cylinder 9. Thisarrangementproduces a beneficial action which will be further discussedby reference to the diagram in Fig. 6.

By referring to Fig. 3c when the piston l0 is the in position of thecylinder the longitudinal axis of the crank arm or pitman l2 intersectsthe axis of the crank shaft, which position will be referred to as zeroposition. The intake valve is now starting towards open position. Whenthe crank shaft has rotated through an angle of 60 (as shown in Fig. 3)the intake valve is in extreme open position and the cam 30 ready at aslight additional movement to permit the spring 35 to snap the valveinto closed position, shown in Fig. 3a. Referring now tov Fig. 5, theabscissa represents equally spaced angular movements of the crank andthe ordinate represents both valve opening and piston stroke. As amatter of convenience, the full valve opening and the piston stroke havebeen taken as having the saine limit.- It will be observed that thevalve begins to open substantially coincident with or slightly afterzero position, and continues opening until slightly before the 60' pointof move-- ment of the crank and that it closes slightly before the crankhas gone through 120, with the cycle of movement of the'valve comprisingabout 120 of crank angular movement. During the time while the valve hasbeen opened, the piston in moving rtoward the fly wheel has sucked in aportion of the llame from the burner head and has drawn in hot airtogether with gases or vapor produced by the action of the flame. Thishot air and gases are trapped in the closed cylinder when the valve 22closes at about 90 of crank movement. From this point to the extremetravel ci the piston which occurs when the crank is at about 170, thegases and vapors in the cylinder are reduced in pressure by the outwardmovement of the piston. The expansion of the gas lowers the temperatureof the fluids and vapors in the cylinder chamber. At the same time, thefluids and vapors are losing heat by absorption of the walls of thecylinder so that the vapors in the fluid commence to condense. Thisoperation of the lowering temperature of the fluids and vapors in thecylinder produces a partial vacuum back of the piston which increasesrapidly. The construction and arrangement of the operating parts are sotimed that the greatest reduction in pressure occurs slightly before theoutward limit of travel of the piston. The momentum of the y wheelcarries the piston over this peak and enables atmospheric pressure to beimmediately effective on the return stroke so that the piston isreturned with considerably more force than is required on the outerstroke. It is desirable that this force shall have time to exert itselffully on the driving mechanism, and therefore, it is particularlydesirable that the outward stroke of the piston shall be relativelyrapid and that the return stroke shall be relatively slow up until thelatter portion of the stroke, when it is rapidly increased in speed.This action is obtained by placing the axis of the crank shaft or mainshaft in a horizontal plane-considerably above the horizontal line oftravel of the piston connection to the pitman, and this is mosteffectively accomplished by lowering the horizontal axis of the pistonso that it passes considerably beneath the axis of the main shaft 1.Referring to Fig. 6, it will be observed that starting with the zerocsition and considering equal angular movements around the crank shaft,(such angular vmovements being numbered 1, 2, 3, etc., and plottingcorresponding positions for piston travel and numbering said positionsla, 2a, 3a, etc.) that the movement of the piston in the stroke towardthe iiy wheel is considerably faster than its movement inthe stroke awayfrom the fly wheel.

It is seen from Fig. 6 that the piston is farthest from the fly wheelwhen the conecting rod is aligned with the radius of the crank, i. e.,when the crank is in the position indicated as zero in Fig. 6.Similarly, it is seen that the piston is nearest the fly wheel when theconnecting rod is superimposed upon the radius of the crank, which, asshown in Fig. 6, occurs when the crank is at about 155. Accordingly, thestroke of the piston from its farthest position from the fly wheel toits nearest-position to the fly wheel is accomplished whilethe crank isrotating from zero to 155, while the return stroke occupies the time ittakes the crank to go from 155 back to zero, i. e., through an angle of205. 'Ihe fly wheel is relatively heavy and hence the momentum causes itto have substantially the same angular velocity at all times.Accordingly, the piston speed in its movement away from the fly wheel isconsiderably slower than its speed in its movement towards the flywheel. The stroke away from the fly wheel is made while the fly wheel isrotating through only 155 while the return stroke over the same distancetakes the time required for the fly wheel to rotate through 205,

During the return stroke, the speed of the piston is rapidly increasedso that the residual vapors and gases are quickly compressed as thepressure in the cylinder changes from sub-atmosphere to super-atmosphereand these residual vapors and gases are therefore quickly expelledthrough the exhaust valve 30. `This valve 30 being light, it opens whenthe pressure in the cylinder is very little in excess of atmosphere sothat there is very little loss of power in this portion of the strokesince the front end of the cylinder 9 is at all times open andconsequently, the forward face of the piston is always under fullatmospheric pressure.

During operation of the engine the action of the D-valve and the exhaustport associated therewith is substantially as follows: Assuming thevalve member to be in position completely closing the cylinder to theatmosphere and with the piston moving toward the closed end of thecylinder on the power stroke, the first movement of the valve memberuncovers the exhaust port, permitting the exhaust of any remainingpressure within the cylinder. Further movement of the valve memberuncovers the inlet port and as the piston moves away from the closed endof the cylinder flame is sucked into the cylinder. The valve member thencloses quickly, covering first the intake port and then completelycovering the exhaust port. A small amount of air may be sucked inthrough the exhaust port past the D-valve member, but the amount is sosmall as not to interfere appreciably with the working of the engine.Due to the cam arrangement with its chordal section, the opening of thevalve member occurs gradually over a short period of time followed by avery sudden closing of the valve, so'that the exhaust port is open tothe atmosphere on both the exhaust and suction strokes for a very slightperiod.

The spring 135 causes the valve which has been gradually opened when thecam follower 35 moves along the fragmentary chord section 38, to snapinto closed position when the cam follower enters' the substantiallyradially arranged portion 39.

The closure plug 46, provided with a vent 50, is designed in the form ofa whistle to emphasize the exhaust sounds to thereby simulate a largeengine.

It is very important that the valve be closed rapidly at the rightmoment without gradually closing as the piston is now approaching itsmaximum speed.

From the above specified arrangement and construction, theefciency ofthis type of engine is greatly improved and is raised to the point wherethe engine becomes suiciently economical for practical purposes.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thusprovided a device of the character described possessing the particularfeatures of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but whichobviously is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions,detail construction and arrangement of parts Without departing from theprinciple involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

While in order to comply with the statute the invention is described inlanguage more or less specific as to structural features, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the specific detailsshown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise thepreferred form of several modes of putting the invention into effect,and the invention is therefore claimed in any of its forms ormodifications' within the legitimate and valid scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A flame engine operable on differential cylinder pressures comprisinga cylinder having one end normally closed and the other end open to theatmosphere, a piston within said cylinder, an automatically operableexhaust valve, means to produce a flame adjacent the closed end of thecylinder, a chambered valve member operable to control admission of ameto the closed end of the cylinder and also supplementing the exhaustvalve to exhaust residual gases therefrom through the chamber directlyto the atmosphere and in a direction away from the ame, and means tomechanically actuate said valve member to effect said admission of flameduring a portion of the piston stroke away from the closed end of thecylinder and to effect said exhaust prior to the next admission offlame.

2. A ame engine operable on differential cylinder pressures comprisingmeans to produce a flame, a piston, a cylinder having one end open tothe atmosphere and the other end normally closed, the closed end beingprovided with a port adjacent the flame and an exhaust passage leadinginto the open air away from said flame, a chambered slide valve memberoperable to connect said cylinder port with said exhaust passage throughsaid valve chamber and then open the port to the flame, and means tomechanically actuate said valve member to open said port to said exhaustpassage just prior to the time when the piston reaches dead center atthe closed end oi the cylinder.

3. A flame engine operable on differential cylinder pressures comprisinga cylinder having one end normally closed and the other end open to theatmosphere, a piston within said cylinder, an automatically operableexhaust valve, means to produce a flame adjacentI the closed end of thecylinder, a valve member operable to control admission of flame to theclosed end of the cylinder and also supplementing the exhaust valve toexhaust residual gases therefrom directly to the atmosphere and in adirection away from the flame, and means to mechanically actuate saidvalve member to effect said admission of flame during a portion of thepiston stroke away from the closed end of the cylinder and to effectsaid exhaust prior to the next admission of fiame, said actuating meansincluding a cam, a cam follower, said cam having a cam surface includinga pair of straight portions interconected by a pair of arcuate portions,one of said straight portions being tangentially disposed with respectto one of the arcuate portions for causing the cam follower to open thevalve gradually and the other straight portion being radially disposed,and a spring for snapping the valve into closed position when the camfollower passes along the radially disposed portion of the cam surface.

WILLIAM J. OLEARY.

